Novell lands major Linux server contract with Office Depot

. . . keeping an eye on the penguin

Keywords: Match:

Dec. 12, 2007

Second in the Linux server business to leader Red Hat, Novell is continuing to strive for major server wins. In its latest significant victory, Novell announced that Office Depot has elected to consolidate its server infrastructure on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 1.

In the past, Office Depot, with offices in 43 countries, has used an eclectic collection of server operating systems. These include Solaris, Windows, IBM's mainframe operating system z/OS, i5/OS (the newest version of IBM's OS/400 midrange computer operating system) and several different kinds of Linux. According to Novell, moving to SLES on commodity hardware has already helped Office Depot reduce its hardware and power costs.

And Office Depot needs to reduce its costs. The second-largest office supplies retailer in the United States, behind Staples, is already warning investors that its sales and earnings for the 2007's fourth quarter, which ends on Dec. 29, will continue their downward slide. The company is blaming its financial woes on the continuing decline of the North American housing market.

Novell, which recently had to delay its fourth-quarter earning due to continuing SEC questions, could also use some good financial news.

By standardizing on SLES, Office Depot also hopes to reduce complexity and thus control costs without losing any user application functionality. Tim Toews, Office Depot's senior vice president and CIO, said in a statement, "SUSE Linux Enterprise Server has been an excellent investment for Office Depot and is the cornerstone of our global Linux strategy." In addition Toews said, "As a global retailer, it is critical for Office Depot to partner with a vendor like Novell that can provide consistent enterprisewide support."

Roger Levy, Novell's senior vice president and general manager of Open Platform Solutions, said in a statement, "Office Depot is taking advantage of the flexibility of Linux, running several mission-critical workloads on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, including databases, middleware and applications."

At noon on Dec. 12, the day of the announcement, Novell's stock was up slightly, 0.43 percent, on light trading. Office Depot's stock, reacting to the news that the company expected a declining quarter, has declined more than 10 percent on heavy trading.

-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Do you have comments on this story?

Talkback here
NOTE: Please post your comments regarding our articles using the above link. Be sure to use this article's title as the "Subject" in your posts. Before you create a new thread, please check to see if a discussion thread is already running on the article you plan to comment on. Thanks!

Related Stories:

(Click here for further information)

7 Advantages of D2D Backup
For decades, tape has been the backup medium of choice. But, now, disk-to-disk (D2D) backup is gaining in favor. Learn why you should make the move in this whitepaper.

4 Legal Reasons to Control Internet Access
The Internet is obviously a valuable resource for many organizations. However, many are exposed to legal liability concerns because they fail to control Internet access. Learn if you're safe in this white paper.

Rapidly Resolve J2EE Application Problems
Whether you are in the process of building J2EE applications or have J2EE applications already running in production, you must ensure that they deliver the expected ROI. Learn how in this white paper.

Load Testing 2.0 for Web 2.0
There are many unknowns in stress testing Web 2.0 applications. Find out how to test the performance of Web 2.0 in this white paper.

Build Better Games Online
For the game infrastructure providers, life is complex. Making money from games has become more complicated. Why? Find out in this white paper.

Building a Virtual Infrastructure from Servers to Storage
This white paper discusses the virtual storage solutions that reduce cost, increase storage utilization, and address the challenges of backing up and restoring Server environments.

Gaining Faster Wireless Connections with WiMAX
Welcome to what is quickly becoming the hyperconnected world where anything that would benefit from being connected to the network will be connected. Learn more in this white paper.

Is Your Desktop a Security Threat?
The new wave of sophisticated crimeware not only targets specific companies, but also targets desktops and laptops as backdoor entryways into those business’ operations and resources. Learn how to stay safe in this white paper.

Increasing SAN Reliability by 100 Percent
Storage area networks (SAN) are a strong part of storage plans. Learn how to increase your reliability and uptime by 100 percent in this case study.

Got a HOT tip? please tell us!

ADVERTISEMENT
(Advertise here)

Latest Linux-Watch Posts

• Debian plans draw sharp warning from GNU guru
• OpenSource World announces keynote speakers
• Linux 2.6.30 gets new filesystems
• Intel to buy Wind River for $884 million
• Apple sued for squelching wiki chat
• Microsoft's TomTom patents posted for patent review
• Europe tops global open source survey
• Oracle buys Sun -- may jettison MySQL
• Sun virtualization technology adds VM exports
• Is Linux ready to go to FAT camp?
More Linux-Watch posts

DesktopLinux headlines:
• Can FAT patch avoid Microsoft lawsuits?
• Debian plans draw sharp warning from GNU guru
• LiveUSB version of OLPC software targets netbooks
• Virtualization software goes multi-processor
• Open source show gears up with 200 sessions
• Office suite released in netbook version
• Scalix gains mobile device synchronization
• OpenSource World announces keynote speakers
• Ubuntu added to online preview site
• Linux 2.6.30 gets new filesystems
More DesktopLinux news

LinuxDevices headlines:
• Carrier adds new Android phone
• Panel PC uses "two Watt" x86 SoC
• Network security appliances use Atom N270
• Watertight computer sports dual-core Atom
• Palm responds to Apple iTunes threat
• Low-power ARM9 SBC supports Linux
• OpenSource World announces keynote speakers
• IDE rev'd for improved multi-core debugging
• Open source Carrier Grade Linux middleware rev'd
• ARM9 SoC targets touch-capable auto and industrial devices
More LinuxDevices news

Dev Shed

Powered By Dev Shed

Linux conquers smartphones!

...read all about 'em

Visit the...

news feed

Home \| News \| Forum \| About \| Contact

	Ziff Davis Enterprise Home \| Contact Us \| Advertise \| Link to Us \| Reprints \| Magazine Subscriptions \| Newsletters Tech RSS Feeds \| White Papers \| ROI Calculators \| Tech Podcasts \| Tech Video \| VARs \| Channel News
	Baseline \| Careers \| Channel Insider \| CIO Insight \| DesktopLinux \| DeviceForge \| DevSource \| eSeminars \| eWEEK \| Enterprise Network Security \| LinuxDevices \| Linux Watch \| Microsoft Watch \| Mid-market \| Networking \| PDF Zone \| Publish \| Security IT Hub \| Strategic Partner \| Web Buyer's Guide \| Windows for Devices
	Developer Shed \| Dev Shed \| ASP Free \| Dev Articles \| Dev Hardware \| SEO Chat \| Tutorialized \| Scripts \| Code Walkers \| Web Hosters \| Dev Mechanic \| Dev Archives \| igrep
Use of this site is governed by our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Except where otherwise specified, the contents of this site are copyright © 1999-2009 Ziff Davis Enterprise Holdings Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff Davis Enterprise is prohibited. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

Home \| News \| Forum \| About \| Contact

	Ziff Davis Enterprise Home \| Contact Us \| Advertise \| Link to Us \| Reprints \| Magazine Subscriptions \| Newsletters Tech RSS Feeds \| White Papers \| ROI Calculators \| Tech Podcasts \| Tech Video \| VARs \| Channel News
	Baseline \| Careers \| Channel Insider \| CIO Insight \| DesktopLinux \| DeviceForge \| DevSource \| eSeminars \| eWEEK \| Enterprise Network Security \| LinuxDevices \| Linux Watch \| Microsoft Watch \| Mid-market \| Networking \| PDF Zone \| Publish \| Security IT Hub \| Strategic Partner \| Web Buyer's Guide \| Windows for Devices
	Developer Shed \| Dev Shed \| ASP Free \| Dev Articles \| Dev Hardware \| SEO Chat \| Tutorialized \| Scripts \| Code Walkers \| Web Hosters \| Dev Mechanic \| Dev Archives \| igrep
Use of this site is governed by our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Except where otherwise specified, the contents of this site are copyright © 1999-2009 Ziff Davis Enterprise Holdings Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff Davis Enterprise is prohibited. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.